Forty
by Arluinuial
Summary: Pete Wisdom celebrates his fortieth birthday. A drabble based on something else I'm working on that pairs Pete Wisdom with Wanda Lehnsherr of the Ultimate universe . I'm rating it M just to be on the safe side, though it's not very explicit at all.


Pete Wisdom was turning forty today. It was the first thought that entered his brain as he woke up to a foggy and drizzly morning sky. Of course the weather would be dismal today; everything would be dismal. He rolled out of bed and lit a cigarette, listing in his head all the things that would be horrid about his birthday. First, he was working at MI6 again and he had to sit through three pointless meetings scheduled strategically through out the day that he would be prevented from getting any actual work done. He was going to have to accept birthday wishes because his boss' nosey secretary had found out about it yesterday and the woman could not mind her own business. If there was cake and singing, someone was going to die. He would have to go grocery shopping today, which he always hated, and he was almost out of cigarettes. Worst of all his woes in Pete's opinion was the fact that his girlfriend of a year and a half was three thousand miles away and he had not seen or shagged her in over four months. The longer he went without seeing Wanda, the surlier he became. His colleagues and friends noticed but no one cared to comment lest they incur his notorious wrath. He was also smoking an extra pack a day and becoming more paranoid about his relationship.

Sometimes Pete wondered if Wanda, ten years his junior, was seeing someone else younger and fitter than himself. As he sat on the edge of his bed his train of thought followed this miserable track and Pete had to remind himself that Wanda wasn't Kitty. Kitty Pryde was another subject entirely and one he did not relish dwelling on. The fact that he was thinking about her now was another tick on the list of why his birthday was going to be horrible. At least, he consoled himself, when he thought of Kitty now her memory always paled with the reality of Wanda. Wanda was the first woman that he had ever admitted to himself he was in love with- even if he hadn't told her yet. Those three words were something he'd always had trouble saying. With Kitty, it had taken the intervention of his friend Brian Braddock claiming that if Pete didn't admit his feelings for Kitty the future would be destroyed. So he had told Kitty he loved her, for the sake of a brighter future, of course. _And look what it got me_, he thought with a frown as he put out his cigarette and stepped into the shower.

Kitty had left him for a man closer to her own age. It had made Pete feel genuinely _old _and, he believed, today he really _was _old. It was disheartening and he fought the urge as he finished with his shower to get on the phone and call Wanda, just to hear her voice and be assured that she was still his. However, it was after one in the morning back in New York City and he did not want to bother her. He was sure she would call later. He liked to pretend that the distance between them was not a problem, though it bothered him more and more as time went on. Still, neither of them was currently able to leave their job and neither was particularly thrilled at the idea of moving to another country.

Pete dressed feeling angry and dejected. He locked up his flat and then boarded a bus to work. The early hour and the wretched weather had all of the other commuters sharing his mood and the atmosphere in the office did not seem much better. The frowns on his associates' faces as they wished him a happy birthday were almost insulting. Pete had already resolved to miss his first meeting of the day and he was just sneaking into a stairwell for a cigarette when his boss' secretary caught him and promised him there would be a "surprise" for him at lunch time. He wanted to strangle her. The morning meeting was long and dull and he found out after that he had missed a call from Wanda. In the message she left him her voice sounded hurried and distant and it made him feel lonelier than he had without hearing from her. She told him happy birthday and said he should be expecting a package in the mail when he got home. She promised to call him later that evening and then the message ended and Pete listened to it twice more before being corralled into the break room by one of his coworkers. There was cake. And singing. He spent the thirty agonizing minutes of his lunch break mentally murdering and maiming everyone in the room and it made him feel slightly better. Of course, summoning solar daggers and slitting the tires on the secretary's car when he finally got out for a smoke was far more satisfying and even brightened his day. The next two meetings he had to attend, however, served to ruin his mood again.

Pete's errands after work were maddening and he was in a foul temper by the time he got home to his flat. He remembered to check his mail and was slightly pleased to see the package from Wanda. When he'd tossed his grocery bags into the kitchen he tore open the brown packaging paper to find a little box wrapped in pretty silver paper with a bow. Inside the box was a small silver key which he stared at in confusion. Bemused, he carried it with him to his bedroom where he was going to change out of his work clothes. He had hardly opened the door when a voice spoke from within and the sight before him almost caused the cigarette in his mouth to drop from his lips. Wanda was reclining languorously in the midst of his bed, dressed in a red and black lacy corset and red stiletto heels. She regarded him through half lidded eyes, her vibrant crimson lips parted in a sly smile. Wanda's wrists were above her head, locked to the bedpost by handcuffs.

"Happy birthday, Mr. Wisdom," she purred, "I believe you have the key."

He had hardly undressed before his cell phone started ringing, but Pete ignored it and focused all of his attention on Wanda. Half an hour later the remote sound of knocking began in the other room from the front door and Wanda lifted her mouth from Pete's to ask if she should let him up. Pete, who had obligingly donned the handcuffs, shook his head. Wanda shrugged and continued where she had left off leaving kisses and bite marks up and down Pete's body. The knocking continued insistently and Pete groaned as Wanda unlocked the cuffs from the headboard and lifted herself off of him. He pulled on a pair of pants, the handcuffs still dangling from his wrist, and stalked into the living room.

Pete opened his front door a few inches, glaring savagely into the hallway. His friends Brian and Meggan Braddock stood there, and both looked rather taken aback at his expression. They had expected him to be unhappy, but not quite this angry. "What?" he snarled and Meggan's eyes narrowed.  
"Well we _were _going to take you out to dinner since it's your birthday and all, but if you're going to act like this, I don't see the point!" Meggan snapped, meeting his glare with one of her own.  
"I'm rather busy," he explained through gritted teeth. Meggan continued to scowl but Brian had finally noticed the handcuffs still hanging from one of Pete's wrists.

"We can always come back la…ter…" Brian's words died in his throat as Wanda sauntered from the bedroom, still in her lingerie. She held the handcuff key, lifting Pete's wrist and turning the lock so the cuffs fell away into her hand. She shut them with a resounding snap and placed a kiss on Pete's cheek. "Well, darling, I suppose I'll get dressed," she announced and sidled back towards his room. Pete made a strangled noise in his throat that sounded like a mix of a whimper and the word "no." Meggan and Brian were wide-eyed and Pete glowered at them before shoving the door open as far as it would go.  
"You may as well come in since you're here," he growled, grabbing a cigarette from a pack on an end table and lighting up.

Dinner was a slightly awkward affair as Meggan was not very fond of Wanda and Pete was impatient to return to his flat and his bed. He declined his friends' offer for dessert and coffee after dinner and practically dragged Wanda to a cab. He was relieved when they finally reached his flat.

"So," Pete began as soon as the front door was shut, "Where were we?"  
Wanda grinned wickedly and Pete found himself undressing in record time. The rest of the evening passed blissfully and Pete rather forgot about his irritations and work and dinner and his age.

In the early hours of the morning Pete lay awake in the darkness of his room with Wanda in his arms, his mind wandering. Though he knew she was trying to sleep he couldn't help but lean over now and then to leave a trail of kisses along her neck and shoulder. He breathed in the scent of her hair and his fingertips idly traced patterns on her arm. A sudden thought struck him as he held her lovely form and he sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Wanda gave a little groan and stared up at him through bleary eyes.  
"Wanda," he spoke her name in such an uncharacteristically tender way that she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up as well.  
"Hmmm?" she murmured with a questioning little smile. He ran his fingers along her jaw line and tilted her chin upwards. Pete's look was intense as he searched her face for a moment before sucking in a deep breath and speaking.

"I love you," he said quietly and then stared at her, waiting. Wanda gazed back at him for a moment, entirely speechless, before a slow smile crept over her lips. She pressed her mouth to his and kissed him sweetly before answering, "I love you too."  
Pete grinned and reached over to click off the lamp. He lay down again and Wanda settled into his arms with a contented sigh. As he closed his eyes and nuzzled his face against Wanda's shoulder he thought to himself that perhaps forty was not going to be so terrible after all.


End file.
